Shoe-fastener



J. R. SMITH.

SHOE FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED IuLYzI. 1920.

1,371,941, Patented Mar. 15,192I.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A'TTORN EY J. R. SMITH.

SHOE FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY-27. 1920.

l'ltl. Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY Smih..

reTnrfe-FFlc- 'JERRY a. SMITH, or carence, ILLINoIs.

snon-rnsrnnnn.

Specicaticn of Letters Patent. l Patented Mar. 15, 1921.

Application led July 27, 1920. Serial No. 399,235.

To all whom z't'may concern:

Be it known that I, JERRY R. SMrrH, a

the strips are formed with humps' lliv'adja-V cent which are notches 12.

citizen of the United States residinr at .The numeral 13 desi ates thet0n e y Chicago, in the county of Cook, and State of \\vhich may haveits vloweldnd secured wigtill-` Illinois, have invented new and usefulIml rovements in Shoe-Fasteners, of which the ollowing is aspecification. l

This invention relates to devices for clos. -ing the meeting edges ofshoes, boots, Vor the like, and has for its object the provision of`novel fastening meansdesigned to avoid the use of buttons andbutton-holes, eyelets and laces, or other similar devices.

An important and more specific object is the provision of a shoefastenerv which includes strips secured upon the meeting edges at a shoeopening and an elastic tongue carrying hooks arranged in spaced relationand engageable with said strips, the strips being furthermore providedwith notches within which certain of the hooksmay be engaged for forminga lock to prevent displacement of the parts.

An additional object is the provision of a securing device of thischaracter which will be simple and inexpensive in manufacture,

highly efficient in use, easy and quick to fasten, and a generalimprovement in the art.

-With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionconsists in, the details of construction to be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a shoe equipped with my fasteningdevice, showing the shoe in closed position,

Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing the shoe in open position,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view,

Fig. 4: is a cross sectional view,-v

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the .ton e,

1g. is a detail perspective view of one of the strips, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the hooks. Referring moreparticularly to the drawings, the letter A designates a shoe and Bdesignates the meeting edges of the opening therein. f

In carrying out my invention I provide metallic strips l0 which aresecured upon the edges B and these strips are channeled longitudinally,as shown. At their upper ends .with the hooks in .one

to permit the insertion of 1s deslred to close the shoe or'fastening itin the shoe in the usual-manner and which has Lits upper end formed witha tab 14\ serving as a handle. This tongueis formed of elastic materialand carries two Asets of hooks l5 which are arranged at' intervalsseries in spaced rela# tion to the hooks of vthe other series, the hooksbelng arranged with their bills 16 extending toward one another. 'In theuse of the device. it will be seen that when the shoe is in openposition, that 1s ready to be sllpped ontothe foot of the wearer, thetongue 13 is in its lowermost positlon soA that all the hooks 15 will bedisposed toward the lower ends of the strips 10 so that the edges B maybe pulled apart a foot. When it is merely'necessary that the operatorgrasp the tab 14 and pull the tongue 13 upwardly,

as clearly shown in Fig. 1, whereupon the hooks 15 will slide upwardlyalong thestrips 10. Owing to the' elasticity of the tongue,l the strips10 will be drawn together closing the shoe. When the tongue is pulledupwardly, as far as possible, the uppermost hooks 15 will be pressedoutwardl over-the humps 11 and will then snalp into t e notches 12 andconsequently hold t e tongue in such upper position and. preventdownward slippiIg. p

rom the foregoing description and a study of the drawings itwill beapparentl that I have thus provided a sim ly constructed and easilylapplied vshoe astening device which is easily operated and which will benot only secure in its holding action 'but which will be prevented fromcasual displacement. A v

While I have4 shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, itl 1s of course to be understood that I reserve the right tomake such changes in the form, construction, and arrangement of parts aswill not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of thesubjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: v

1. In combination with the meeting edges of a shoe opening, a fasteningdevice comprising a pair of strips secured upon said I meeting edges undformed-With channels, an

elastic tongue secured :1t its lower end Within the shoe, and a,plurality of spaced hooks carried by the tongue and slidably engagingsaid strips.

2. In combination with the meeting edges of a shoe opening, a fasteningdevice comprising a pair oi' strips secured upon said meeting edges andformed With channels, an

elastic tongue secured at its lower end Within the shoe, and a pluralityyof spaced hooks carried by the tongue and slidably engaofing saidstrips, said strips being formed at t eir upper ends with humps andnotches toserve as locking means for the up ermost hooks.

In'testimony whereof l ai x my signature.

JERRY R. SMITH.

